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Under federal law, gun buyers must pass a background check that relies on an FBI database, but Team 5 Investigates finds many states, including Massachusetts, do not submit information about the mentally ill to the federal government.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns rates Massachusetts among the 24 worst-performing states for failing to provide mental health records to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

"A person who's been committed to a Massachusetts state hospital could now go to another state and purchase a large-capacity rifle or shotgun and there would be no check, no hit, because those records aren't there," said Jason Guida, a Massachusetts firearms law expert. "It's a loophole."

While the database gaps do not appear to be a factor in the Newtown shootings, they have been linked to other infamous cases, including the Virginia Tech murders in 2007.

In that case, a Virginia judge had declared the gunman mentally ill, but those records were not submitted to the FBI and he was able to buy the weapons used to kill 32 people.

"This is a very serious loophole," said Guida. "It's a common-sense gun safety measure that I don't think anyone disagrees with."

That includes Tim O'Leary from the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health.

"A person who has been involuntary committed -- that is, adjudicated to be a threat to himself or to others -- that information should go into any database that's designed to prevent people getting registered as gun owners," said O'Leary.

O'Leary believes voluntary commitments should be excluded and he would not support a lifetime ban.

Gov. Deval Patrick has filed legislation to provide these records to the federal government, but so far it's gone nowhere.

"In a 20-year look-back, we have approximately 11,000 individuals in Massachusetts that would meet this criteria," said Curt Wood, from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety. "11,000 is a significant population we believe should be in a national database."

Mayor Thomas Menino is one of the leaders of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

In a statement he wrote in part, "It's time to take action on background checks, assault weapons, high capacity magazines, missing mental health records and closing private sales loopholes. There is so much work to do; we don't have time for rehashed and tired ideas. The American people and the families of the 34 people killed every day by gun violence demand nothing less."